As urban populations grow, bicycle planning in cities is more critical than ever

By Gerald Dlubula

"Contrary to belief, our cities are alive and well, and we ought to be designing them as such, with walking, biking, and transportation modes that offer better and easier access."

So says Andy Clarke, Director of Strategy at Toole Design Group, one of the nation's leading planning, engineering, and landscape architectural firms specializing in bicycle and pedestrian transportation.

"The perceived importance of bike and pedestrian planning in developments is still not quite clear though," Clarke added. "It still seems more likely to come up at the end of discussions about the master plan design, or even later on, in redevelopment situations, rather than up front where it should be.  And even then, it's by no means a given. While it should be included in any plan, there is still plenty to do in the methods to measure any practical results."

"Bike and pedestrian planning seem to still be

Jack the Bike Man Hairston in the charity's massive warehouse of bikes that are rebuilt and given to those in need

When some guys retire they like to spend their days playing golf. Not Jack Hairston. He likes to give away bikes. Not just a few of them, but thousands of them. To needy kids and their families.

"I just wanted to make the community a little bit better," he says, and adds "What else would I be doing?"

At the age of 75, Jack "The Bike Man" will be at it again this holiday season.

His bicycle giveaway is an annual spectacle in West Palm Beach, Fla., that attracts hundreds of families every year. From his enormous warehouse with the giant bicycle mural painted on the front, he and a dedicated team of volunteers distribute recycled bicycles to at-need children of all ages. This is an event that really can make a big difference for a child or family without a bike.

Jack's front door

They don't just give away bicycles and walk away either. The team of volunteers helps every new bike

As more city residents commute by bicycle, more cities now require bike rooms in buildings to encourage them

Bike rooms, a covered, designated area for secure bicycle parking, used to be a luxury. Now, they are becoming mandatory in many urban environments.

As people trend towards cycling for both transportation and recreation, the demand for bicycle parking is on the rise. Many cyclists purchase high-end bikes worth thousands of dollars instead of buying a vehicle. Wanting to protect their investment from the weathering, theft, and damage that can happen in any city, cyclists now specifically search for condos and employers who offer bike rooms.

In an effort to be bike-friendly and encourage bike commuting, some urban communities are rewriting city codes and laws, requiring bike room accessibility from businesses and property owners.

The New York City Bikes in Buildings program is an example of this. It requires businesses with elevators to allow bicycles indoors. Tenants who want an

Dog park equipment adds excitement to any dog park or multi-family community

By Susyn Stecchi

Are you looking to add an agility or obstacle course with dog park equipment to your park or multi-family community?

There are two types of dog agility courses. One is for professional championship trials that have to adhere to the standards of the various dog agility professional organizations such as the USDAA. The other is the informal, recreational type of dog playground equipment course, best suited for dog parks and multi-family housing.

Why would you want your dog to use dog park agility equipment? Agility training is a wonderful opportunity for you to partner with your dog as their coach and trainer while your dog gets to learn to approach and complete various obstacles, increasing your dog's confidence and giving it exercise at the same time. Any dog, regardless of breed or size, will benefit from agility exercise. But start slowly, just as you would when starting your own exercise program.

A different way to enjoy Black Friday. Many people are opting for a park instead of a mall on that day

The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, sounds like a great deal until you actually get there and you're surrounded by a sea of crazed shoppers. But here's a novel idea that will be embraced by millions of Americans on that day. Instead of going to a mall, go to a park.

Mountain park hiker

In fact, nearly a dozen state parks are offering free admission that day. (Check any deals for your local, state or national parks).

This alternative destination for the most popular (or infamous) shopping day of the year is starting to catch on across the nation.

One entity behind this movement is the outdoor store REI, which is actually closing their stores on Black Friday, and suggesting instead that their customers spend the day outdoors.

Last year, more than one million people took REI's advice and signed a pledge "to #OptOutside and choose trails over sales," said Alex Thompson, REI's vice president

Here is a list of bike room features: 1. DoubleUp 20-bike, double-sided vertical freestanding bike rack 2. DoubleUp 10- bike single-sided vertical freestanding bike rack. 3. Commercial Bike Repair Station and Bike Pump. 4. Single or two-tier Bicycle Lockers. 5. Bicycle Room Signage 6. UpLift Bike Dock with high-density footprint

As bicycle commuting is on the rise, so is the demand for bicycle storage and in particular, excitement for the addition of bike rooms in apartments and office buildings.

According to The League of American Bicyclists, bike commuting is rapidly growing in bicycle-friendly cities. Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon have both seen a growth in bicycle commuter share higher than 400% since 1990.

But even communities that are less bicycle-friendly have seen an overall growth rate of 31% in bicycle commuting. Imagine the impact this increase has on bicycle parking.

Cities and business who fail to add more bicycle parking racks to keep up with the commuter biking

Two friends on a concrete bench. Concrete benches are super durable and nearly impossible to steal. They stay where they are placed

When people think of concrete benches, they probably conjure up an image of a rectangular cement slab sitting on two concrete blocks.

That's not necessarily the case.

Concrete benches actually come in an incredible array of styles and designs. They are also manufactured in a variety of configurations - some that use recycled plastic bench slats or others that might use treated lumber like a traditional bench.

In essence, concrete benches don't have to be boring.

Stone benches were used for centuries. Concrete benches resemble stone benches. Here's one famous example.

But remember, they are resilient. And nearly impossible to remove. Concrete benches are ideal for landscapes where the weather is harsh or vandals tend to hangout and either steal or damage your benches.

Variety of concrete benches

Here are some of the many concrete bench options to consider:

Business man recycling paper and tossing it into a blue recycle bin. More of this activity is encouraged as part of America Recycles Day

Tues., Nov. 15 is America Recycles Day and while vast improvements have been made in how households recycle, there is still much to be done in the workplace and at facilities. But the process can be as easy as adding a few recycling receptacles and then getting buy-in from people in your building.

The growth of recycling at home has been a tremendous success and has practically become a household routine for most families. Empty a milk jug or water bottle. Read a newspaper. Finish using a cardboard box. Don't throw it in the trash bin. Put it in the recycling bin.

However, according to Keep America Beautiful, this is not taking place in most workplaces, office buildings and other facilities. With an estimated 5.6 million commercial office buildings in the US, you can imagine the impact this would have on recycling.

Here are some helpful hints on how to

Spectators on bleachers with drinks at gam

Aluminum bleachers endure a lot of use, misuse and abuse. How do you keep them safe and sound when you have so many crowds of people walking, cheering and jumping up and down on them?

There are very few structures out there that are subjected to this type of activity. And to add to the danger, a large number of bleachers are outside - subject to rain, sleet, heat and snow. Then you have the food and refreshments factor - people watching a game for three hours are going to eat and drink - and spill and drop food.

Here are some tips to consider to keep your aluminum bleachers in tip-top shape and safe for public use.

Be sure your bleachers comply with the International Building Code (IBC). These codes were created from an amalgamation of different codes and requirements in different states across the country. There's a reason these codes were enacted - to help prevent the thousands of injuries that occur on bleachers every year. Inspect bleachers

 

Trash collectors face more mountains of garbage than eve

Cities can work on all types of new initiatives - sustainability, new museums, bike paths but there's one recurring problem that keeps popping its head up in new and ugly ways and that's trash receptacles.

Here's a new one for you. In Seattle, people complained that commuters were continually overfilling a trash can by a metro stop. What did the city do? Removed the trash receptacle.

It was a sticky situation. Here's the backstory. The metro stop happened to be very close to a Starbucks. As you know, people love to hang onto their mocha lattes to the last drop. So, for that reason, coffee drinkers would all converge on the bus stop and hang onto their drinks until the last second before they stepped onto the bus, and then dumped them in the trash receptacle nearby.

Every day, that trash receptacle would get fuller...and fuller and eventually start spilling out onto the ground.

One solution was to remove it.

That turned out not

The UpLift Bike Dock, an innovative bike rack invention designed by Sustainable Sites and offered by The Park and Facilities Catalog, was recently mentioned in an issue of  Bicycle Retailer magazine.

Bicycle Retailer is the "bible" for the bicycle industry. Their website generates 225,000 monthly visits on average and their print magazine is distributed to 27,000 readers. The magazine has been connecting suppliers to customers since 1992.

The UpLift Bike Dock was featured on Page 1 of the website in a feature titled, "New Products." Here is a link to the article.

 

Bicycle Retailer magazine features UpLift Bike Doc

Created by experts in bicycle planning, the UpLift Bike Dock is designed to be one of the highest density bicycle parking racks available. The invention features a staggered wheel trough which allows for two bikes to be parked next to each other without handlebar conflict. For security, there are three points of locking contact - the metal arm of the bike dock, the bike

UpLift Bike Docks

https://www.theparkcatalog.com/bike-dock

https://youtu.be/3GWzydFmJb8

Innovative new bicycle rack that maximizes space and provides three secure points of locking contact. Perfect for universities, schools and cities.

DoubleUp Vertical Bike Racks

https://www.theparkcatalog.com/vertical-bike-rack

https://youtu.be/11wXVQ1rwOw

Space-saving vertical bike racks designed for bike rooms. Available as wall mount bike racks or freestanding bicycle racks.

Aluminum Bleachers Installation

https://www.theparkcatalog.com/bleachers

https://youtu.be/RKecsm2yCdI

A brief video on the craftsmanship that goes into our aluminum bleachers.

Commercial Bike Racks

https://www.theparkcatalog.com/bike-racks

https://youtu.be/jvU07HNfKv0

Commercial bike racks of all styles, such as wave and U-racks with a huge array of sizes and colors.

Park Benches

https://www.theparkcatalog.com/benches

https://youtu.be/GIRQhVqHYHo

When it comes to park benches, The Park and Facilities catalog is the one-stop resource

 

 

Graffiti artist looking for a "canvas." Unfortunately at times they chose a picnic table in a park. But now there are products that deter these vandals from defacing public site furnishings

If you have a situation where site furnishings are the frequent target of vandals, you should consider the benefits of an expanded metal picnic table or park bench.

Why? Kids will be kids and every year there is a new flock of misguided youngsters who engage in destructive behavior that can have a harmful effect on an entire community.

This is what administrators at Brookline High School in Massachusetts encountered one day when they discovered vandals had written some very nasty words on picnic tables nearby.

These were not just curse words, but were of a racist and homophobic nature. The miscreants also drew some offensive body parts on the picnic tables. Very shocking. Administrators had the tables quickly removed and placed out of sight.

"We contacted the police and have begun our own investigation

Bike commuter crosses the Hawthorne bridge in Portland that runs over the Willamette river

When it comes to the effectiveness of bike lanes and bike parking racks, all you need to do is visit Portland, Ore. They have their chain securely on the sprocket.

Take these stats  from the Portland Bureau of Transportation for example:

- 7.2% of workers in Portland, commute by bicycle. The national average is an abysmal half of one percent. (In some European cities, such as Copenhagen, that number is 50%).

- 17,000 people bike to work instead of DRIVING THEIR CARS.

- 350 miles of bikeways are available for cyclists,

- Bicycling magazine named Portland as the No. 1 bicycle friendly city in the nation for several years. (Although in 2016, the magazine named Chicago as the top city, followed by San Francisco and then Portland.  Seattle was fourth and New York City fifth. Other cities are catching on).

- The League of American Bicyclists gave Portland a "platinum" award as a bicycle friendly

Note: The Park and Facilities Catalog and it's innovative UpLift Bike Dock was recently featured in the Sun-Sentinel - one of the premier newspapers in Florida with an estimated 230,000 subscribers for their Sunday edition.

The UpLift Bike Dock was featured in this Sun-Sentinel articl

Reporter Marcia Pounds and photographer/videographer Carline Jean interviewed CEO Christopher George about the company's new UpLift bike rack invention which has one of the highest densities in the industry when it comes to bicycle parking. The unique design of the UpLift Bike Dock with the staggered wheel troughs and small footprint allows more bicycles to be parked in tight spaces per square foot. This bike dock was designed specifically for college campuses and cities where space is at a premium.

Boca Company's new bike rack designed to save space, prevent scratches

By Marcia Heroux Pounds - Sun-Sentinel reporter

Boca Raton company is rolling out a bike rack designed to save space, secure the wheel and